Have recent Current Events changed how you feel about some people?

[kenny]

These vulnerable people should stay home period!

That's easy to say, but are you going to support them?

 

[Dancing Fire]

Ha! More like I am the firefighter willing to run into the burning building at my own peril - even though the only person to be saved is the arsonist.

I wonder if you'd feel the same way if, instead of my colleague, it was your daughter who died on Dec 23 of COVID she caught at work, leaving a husband and two kids behind (she was not a vulnerable person and was young).

Her only other choice is to quit her job.

 

[Dancing Fire]

That's easy to say, but are you going to support them?

I'm speaking of the elderly.

 

[kenny]

I'm speaking of the elderly.

 

[LilAlex]

You conveniently ignore those of us who have no choice...no surprise, it has become clear that society regards us as expendable.

I think there is a difference between going to work and going to a rave or a rally. I have to go to work and get exposed. I mask and distance, as is required. I don't go to the bar after or feel entitled to.

I don't care if you drive the toilet-paper truck or do brain surgery, don't go the bar or an in-person party after work. How hard is that? I don't see the social divide there.

 

[Dancing Fire]

No one sends a fireman into the heart of a wildfire, they call them to retreat.

I'm speaking of a burning building with people trapped inside not a forest fire.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

The sane people in my life continue to be very sane and surprisingly the more crazy people have been oddly decent during this crisis.

 

[dk168]

I feel better after I decided not to comment on Covid-19 related matters when something pushed me over the edge on 17 Dec 2020.

DK

 

[seaurchin]

Ah, so our jobs make us expendable. Good to know

Thank you so much for putting yourself on the front line so others can survive. Also, so sorry you lost the baby.

 

[wildcat03]

**edited by moderator, inappropriate**

Yeah, I'm sure that's what they said


Fear is a normal human emotion. Neither my personal code of ethics nor the Hippocratic oath forbid it. It is normal to worry when faced with a situation that threatens ones own safety. Even more so when there is potentially a second dependent life at stake. I'm not interested in your opinion of me and I'm not interested in your trolling.

 

[Austina]

It’s a very simplistic attitude to say stay home, but as others have already pointed out, that’s not an option everyone has.

Throughout this whole pandemic, we’ve been told to stay home, protect the NHS (National Health Service) and save lives. We’re very fortunate that being retired, we’ve been able to do this.

We owe it to those on the front line, who’s job it is to treat the sick, to stay as healthy as we can, so the health service doesn’t get overwhelmed. Unfortunately, we’re now in another lockdown situation because there are too many people with a cavalier attitude to the pandemic, and our infection rates and hospitalisations are soaring again.

All we’re being asked to do is stay home and stay safe, I don’t know how on earth the medical professionals, and all those on the front line, are coping with dealing with this when they know that some of the people they’re treating didn’t care enough about them to follow the very simple restrictions.

Of course this is causing a lot of hardships for businesses, and the economy, but what’s the alternative? Let it run it’s course, kill off all the old and vulnerable, and those not so old and vulnerable?

Thank you to all of you putting on own lives on the line during this terrible time, stay safe.

 

[wildcat03]

I am so sorry for your loss I really have no words.

I have a bi-pap in the age of covid story.
I have bad copd as well as sleep apnia.
I had a copd exacerbation and put off going to the er almost to long. co2 was sky high.
Luckily my pulmonologist was on duty that night.
He put me in a suitable room on bi-pap even before the covid test came back negative because I would have not made it off a vent in his opinion which is what the other doc wanted to do. I knew that and that is why I avoided going in so long because the news was reporting no one was allowed bipap they were putting everyone on vents.
Another doc came on duty and had a fit about the bi-pap, I was groggy but I could hear him yelling ranting and raving about it.
Some time later the test came back negative so they moved me out of icu up one level with the bipap.

A few weeks later had another episode but not nearly as bad as I wnt in earlier so they just did o2 treatment until the test results in and I used the bi-pap all night.

Thank you for your service!

I'm sorry COVID affected your care. We got a bunch of Vapotherm units in which are less aerosolizing and seem to be effective in bridging the gap between BIPAP and intubation for some patients. And sometimes we just have to use BIPAP. Hope you stay healthy!!!

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

I feel the same about everyone except one friend. I have people I care about with different ideologies than I have. This is fine.

I became very hurt when an out of state friend made his yearly visit this summer. Instead of asking me "how are the kids, love the garden, the new house updates look great" he started with "so who are you going to vote for" in a confrontational tone of voice. I told him "no politics, tell me what you have been up to."

I was very sad that a friendship of over 20 years seemed to hinge on whether my DH and I were on "his side" politically because I recognized the tone of voice he used, I have seen him use it before. He was spoiling for a fight if I had given him the "wrong" answer. So incredibly disappointed.

 

[Matata]

Covid is like the vomit topping to the diarrhea sundae that was 2020 wherein nearly 50% of US citizens decided to abandon truth for lies, abandon proof for conspiracies, abandon reality for fantasy, and indulge in demagoguery at the sacrifice of the ethical and moral paradigm that at one time knitted us loosely together as a nation. So, yeah, my feelings have changed.

 

[luv2sparkle]

I wouldn't say I feel differently about people because of their views and behavior but I have been surprised by it at times. This has been the hardest, weirdest year, that I tend to give people a pass on whatever or however their behavior exhibit itself. There is no normal. It has been obliterated and everyone is just trying to cope. We have seen people lose it in stores, on tv and in the streets. So much has hit us in a year, it's normal for people to lose their footing a bit. I am really hoping and praying that 2021 is better and there is something a little closer to our previous normal.

 

[facetgirl]

Of course we all carry fear. We are all human and vulnerable. What we do with that matters - and showing up despite your fear is courage in my view. The underlying motivation behind fear is protection. Big or small steps, its courage.

The actions I have trouble with are lack of masking up, disregard for others (no social distancing), selfishness over selflessness.

To answer the question- yes, its making me think differently about boundaries and establishing concrete ones with people who don't mask up or social distance. This is a new normal for many. It's the only thing I can control.

 

[msop04]

Covid has widened the social class divide. I know people who are resentful bc society utilizes them to make the rest of us comfortable. Their lives have been deemed expendable so that the rest of us can have chicken, produce, electricity, toilet paper —etc. If I had to expose myself daily to Covid in order to put food on the table—I would rationalize that I can also enjoy other activities. Subconsciously, I would adapt so that I wouldn’t torture myself after every shift. So when I see people posting on their soc media their outings or gatherings, who am I to judge from the comfort of my stay at home job? I just hope they wear a mask. So to answer your question. No.

Thank you. I think people forget about those whose work lives haven't changed one bit for Covid. If anything, we have been more stressed with higher workloads and/or taken a pay CUT... all while being exposed on a daily basis.

 

[MMtwo]

Yes, and very close to me. I am still processing how I feel about it, but it's not what I wanted.
It's like knowing your car has a bad tire...under stress, it could blow out. Not comforting in the least.

I drink wine and try not to think about it too much, and try to forgive their weakness.

 

[mom2dolls]

Yes, absolutely feel different about people that are careless and dismissive of the severity of the virus. Once you see a loved one so sick, it opens your eyes and unfortunately changed my threshold for bull crap.
We did everything we were supposed to. Wore masks, used all the hand sanitizer and stayed home. My hubby went to work. People who go out partying, constantly moving from one social gathering to another are not for me. Anyone who says this is just like a flu or bad cold, please stay away from me because I won’t have anything nice to say.
Thank you to every single one of you and your loved ones who put yourselves at risk to care for the public. I am so sorry for each family that has lost a loved one

 

[JPie]

Yes, 100%. I’ll never look at Hilaria Baldwin the same way.

 

[canuk-gal]

Ha! More like I am the firefighter willing to run into the burning building at my own peril - even though the only person to be saved is the arsonist.

I wonder if you'd feel the same way if, instead of my colleague, it was your daughter who died on Dec 23 of COVID she caught at work, leaving a husband and two kids behind (she was not a vulnerable person and was young).

@wildcat03 the stories about your colleagues broke my heart. I. cannot. imagine.

 

[Matata]

Yes, 100%. I’ll never look at Hilaria Baldwin the same way.

 

[Dee*Jay]

To answer the OP's original question... not really. The people I have generally thought to decent human beings have shown themselves to be so, and the people I have always thought (or highly suspected) to be d!cks have shown themselves to be that too. Some of them in spades.

As for Hilaria, I can't really speak to her... um... situation because I don't think I've ever heard her name before, let alone thought about her, until she came up here on PS. So I guess I don't think about her any differently. Or at all.

And as for Matata (and in a cross pollination of threads): welcome to my planet -- I grok you!

 

[123ducklings]

I'm speaking of a burning building with people trapped inside not a forest fire.

Yes, and my point was that yours is a poor analogy.

 

[msop04]

Yes, 100%. I’ll never look at Hilaria Baldwin the same way.

Best post. LOL

 

[ringbling17]

Yes, unfortunately. A recent example. Family members went out of town on a trip recently. Came back and two days later their child went to daycare. Turns out the teacher was Covid positive that day and they found out a few days later. They decline to test their child unless she shows symptoms. Then went the next day and got her a new bike ( wut?) then the next day went to work ( works at a pediatric urgent care). Maybe I’m the jerk here but I found this behavior to be reckless. Apparently family member got the vaccine last week but it still takes two weeks for it to be 50% effective.

my thinking is since their maskless child had exposure to a Covid positive person, the whole family should of been tested before going out and back to work. I’ve been trying REALLY hard not to be prideful about this. But it’s also not surprising because there’s been behavior in the past where they don’t think about others.

I work in the medical field. I have been exposed several times to patients who tested positive after I already came in contact with them. Actually two days ago this happened to me again when I was in the ED. I do not get Covid tested every time this happens.

Are you sure their child was maskless? I thought everyone was wearing a mask, especially in daycare/school settings? If this child was old enough to ride a bike, then they should be old enough to know how to wear a mask. I would imagine since they work in a pediatric urgent care they would also have been more adamant about teaching their child about wearing a mask?
Also even if the teacher had Covid, was she wearing a mask? Did they socially distance in the classroom? Did they all wash their hands, etc.

How can you be certain that this parent didn’t ask what they should do? I imagine working in a pediatric office they have access to doctors and nurses and could ask them what to do. I always ask my nurse manager what I should do if I think I was exposed. I even call employee health and ask them. Maybe the family member did ask and was told they could work.

I understand not wanting to get Covid tested until you show symptoms. That’s what we are told as well. Stay home if you have Covid symptoms and get Covid tested. But I can’t afford to stay home if I don’t have symptoms. My husband hasn’t been working since March. I’m the only breadwinner right now. We have four kids. Who would pay my bills if I stay home every time I have a potential exposure (I’ve been in contact with at least 30 Covid positive patients).

I don’t get paid every time I stay at home. They won’t pay me to stay home if I have no symptoms unless I lie. Plus I’ll get in trouble from work for calling out so much. Imagine if I called out for this reason? Why are you calling out? Well I don’t have symptoms and neither does my child, but she went to school maskless and her teacher was positive a few days ago. So I think I need to get tested prior to coming back to be on the safe side.
Especially calling out around the holidays. Even before Covid it’s been my experience if one calls out during the holidays you better be dying. I’ve had friends written up BC they called out during Christmas or New Years.
It’s sad but true.

Anyway, just trying to give you a perspective from their side.

 

[House Cat]

I work in the medical field. I have been exposed several times to patients who tested positive after I already came in contact with them. Actually two days ago this happened to me again when I was in the ED. I do not get Covid tested every time this happens.

Are you sure their child was maskless? I thought everyone was wearing a mask, especially in daycare/school settings? If this child was old enough to ride a bike, then they should be old enough to know how to wear a mask. I would imagine since they work in a pediatric urgent care they would also have been more adamant about teaching their child about wearing a mask?
Also even if the teacher had Covid, was she wearing a mask? Did they socially distance in the classroom? Did they all wash their hands, etc.

How can you be certain that this parent didn’t ask what they should do? I imagine working in a pediatric office they have access to doctors and nurses and could ask them what to do. I always ask my nurse manager what I should do if I think I was exposed. I even call employee health and ask them. Maybe the family member did ask and was told they could work.

I understand not wanting to get Covid tested until you show symptoms. That’s what we are told as well. Stay home if you have Covid symptoms and get Covid tested. But I can’t afford to stay home if I don’t have symptoms. My husband hasn’t been working since March. I’m the only breadwinner right now. We have four kids. Who would pay my bills if I stay home every time I have a potential exposure (I’ve been in contact with at least 30 Covid positive patients).

I don’t get paid every time I stay at home. They won’t pay me to stay home if I have no symptoms unless I lie. Plus I’ll get in trouble from work for calling out so much. Imagine if I called out for this reason? Why are you calling out? Well I don’t have symptoms and neither does my child, but she went to school maskless and her teacher was positive a few days ago. So I think I need to get tested prior to coming back to be on the safe side.
Especially calling out around the holidays. Even before Covid it’s been my experience if one calls out during the holidays you better be dying. I’ve had friends written up BC they called out during Christmas or New Years.
It’s sad but true.

Anyway, just trying to give you a perspective from their side.

You work in a medical setting and you will get into trouble for staying home if you’ve been exposed??

 

[ringbling17]

You work in a medical setting and you will get into trouble for staying home if you’ve been exposed??

Yes. If I have no symptoms. If I have symptoms then that’s different. As I said I am exposed to patients all the time. If I stay home every time I am exposed without symptoms and don’t test positive for Covid, that 30 times I called out of work.
What job would keep anyone who called out that many times? Especially when they don’t have symptoms.

So basically if I call and say my daughter went to school and the teacher was positive a few days ago, I just found out now. My daughter and I have no symptoms but I am staying at home because I was exposed.
I will be told to come to work and if I don’t I will get into trouble.

There is only so much paid time off we accrue as well. Everytime we call out we use it. We don’t have unlimited sick time. So if I was exposed to 30 patients and called out every time I was exposed, I honestly would not be able to survive. I only work two to three days a week. Covid results take two days to come back normally. So if I was exposed today, got tested the next day and had to wait two days for my results, I have now been out of work for the whole week. Multiply that by each exposure and you have no pto to cover you.

 

[House Cat]

Yes. If I have no symptoms. If I have symptoms then that’s different. As I said I am exposed to patients all the time. If I stay home every time I am exposed without symptoms and don’t test positive for Covid, that 30 times I called out of work.
What job would keep anyone who called out that many times? Especially when they don’t have symptoms.

So basically if I call and say my daughter went to school and the teacher was positive a few days ago, I just found out now. My daughter and I have no symptoms but I am staying at home because I was exposed.
I will be told to come to work and if I don’t I will get into trouble.

There is only so much paid time off we accrue as well. Everytime we call out we use it. We don’t have unlimited sick time. So if I was exposed to 30 patients and called out every time I was exposed, I honestly would not be able to survive. I only work two to three days a week. Covid results take two days to come back normally. So if I was exposed today, got tested the next day and had to wait two days for my results, I have now been out of work for the whole week. Multiply that by each exposure and you have no pto to cover you.

This is shocking considering people are contagious before they have symptoms. This can be a source of outbreaks. From what you describe, there are no good solutions.

 

[wildcat03]

You work in a medical setting and you will get into trouble for staying home if you’ve been exposed??

Early on the CDC decided that criteria for quarantine were different for those who work in patient care. First, if we are wearing proper PPE we are not actually considered exposed. Second, in the event of a work-related exposure, we are not required to quarantine. We are required to wear a mask and monitor for symptoms. I'm not saying anything that I necessarily agree with these guidelines, but they are what we've been given. I'm not sure what would happen if I were exposed whole socializing- I expect I would have to stay home and use my PTO.

it's also important to note that the CARES Act which specifically provided for paid COVID quarantine leave explicitly stated that it did not apply to healthcare workers.